Update!!! Operation Essentials

yipppeee, the response for help has been wonderful. i plan to take the items to my young friends, next friday, Dec. 10th. so i need any items that you might have by thursday afternoon, the 9th. i am more than happy to meet up with you if you need me to. this is a blessing that you are helping me with and i will get the items from you however i need to. thanks so much, and obviously the more the MERRIER! thanks so much and if you need to contact me, my email is lankfordtiffany@yahoo.com

thanks and have a blessed week!

Operation Essentials......

as we head into the wonderful, and super crazy holiday season my heart is beating fast again for something else. i need to be obedient again and offer to help. i have been working with about 7 young moms this fall. i know their names, most of their stories, their sweet babies and even the inside of their homes. they come from all different situations, but all are trying to make it in one way or another. some of them are currently trying harder than others, some have more frustrating teen attitudes. but they all brought a tiny life into this world and those little babies need a voice. that is part of my heart cry as well. they have needs that honestly some of their moms can't meet....

so my new request for help comes along the line of ESSENTIALS. they need DIAPERS, WIPES, AND FOOD.

diapers: b/c some days they only have enough to

change their babies once or twice all day,

no matter what.

wipes: b/c if diapers are not being changed often and

wipes don't get used, baby skin suffers.

food: b/c some little toddlers are not getting any

healthy food items. period!!

yes, some of my momma friends get help from higher sources (the government), but even those don't get diaper help. all of these essentials are costly, but so needed.

if you have extras of any of these or just happen to be out and want to throw a pack in your buggy PLEASE let me know! nothing fancy, or expensive. just the basics will work. i plan to make several home visits with these essentials closer to Christmas. 1 friend helping will be great, 2 will be amazing, but i can't wait to see how big our God is in something like this!!!

the babies range in age from 3 weeks to 18 months. i need all sizes of diapers. also all types of food, baby food to easy toddler meals.

thanks!!! and if you don't know what i am doing go back to the end of september and you can read about this crazy idea God laid on my heart!

this is the trendiest thing we have done in a long time.....

according to nate~

randomly we decided to go tailgate at the ut- vandy game this weekend. a guy that nate works with has a great spot so he took the big smoker and headed up early. our crew which included, nate and i, jeff and ash, and good ole jose wore our favorite team gear and had a blast. i actually convinced nate to wear something that was kind of trendy and he was sooo proud. ashley told him he was pledging a frat all night and that tore him up! i thought he looked super handsome.

everyone in middle tenn. decided to attend this game. so only ash and i were able to score tickets and made it in after the 2nd quarter had started. we had great seats to watch 2 terrible teams. oh well, it was fun cheering on our vols. oh and the boys stayed back and "held down the smoker."

it was great fun hanging with these two clowns. a nice treat away from our crazy crew!!!

our yard pets.....

2 mommies....2 brown babies......and 1 snow white baby all live in our yard. we watched them in the spring, but this fall they have gotten braver. it probably doesn't hurt that nate feeds them corn about 25 yards off our back porch. the boys and i watched them eat and play one afternoon last week. they really are much closer than they appear in these pics! oh the perks of livin in the grove

crazy cousins

last night we invited our girls over for a fun cousin sleep over. we stayed at grandmo's house and had a wild time. we played puppies and cowboys, rode horses, dressed up, ate, bathed, and just loved on one another. it was great.
it is hard to get this crew to all smile in a pic.
here are the boys rocking out their jerseys with princess-cheerleader livi. jadie bug was not too interested in posing and this was stressing cy.

this pic just makes me laugh! she wouldn't smile. she looks like she belongs in some 19th century photo.

finally bath time brought out the best in all of us. the best part was the fun skyp-e session that interrupted bath time. we loved visiting with our "aprica" crazy cousins!

i love these kids. they are what makes this life all that it is!!

the ZOOOOO

last May i wanted to take the boys to the zoo. it only took 7 months to get them there! we took advantage of the wonderful weather on saturday and hopped in the car with grandmo. with all the big boys in the fam gone, we were ready for our own adventure.

colby had NO clue what the zoo was all about and thought about backing out when we heard the monkeys as we got out of our car! but he is tough and was ready to see the giraffes.
Cy was just so pumped to have his own map to read. he really is his mothers child.
colb was very impressed with the flamingos and so amazed that they stand on one leg. he was still talking about those birds and their legs today..

cy is so excited that his aunt dane dane is having a baby he has told everyone this weekend. he was also very impressed with this soon to be momma goat. very concerned about pushing that baby in her belly. yikes! easy buddy!

we all loved the cool daddy giraffe. he was flying solo, b/c his "wife" and baby were still spending quiet time together. the baby was only 10 days old and had yet to make its public appearance. the daddy did come very close, so that was fun!

map-man finished the day strong! found the map again today and pointed out one area we did not visit. oh dear! next time.....

thanks G-mo! we had a BLAST!!

hunting season has begun....

and this crew is ready
let u decide who is the MOST excited!!!!

my day....

3 tiny babies..... 3 heads of dark black hair....3 moms trying to figure it out too early in their young lives....3 situations where i was WAY out of my comfort zone.... 3 times i said please call me, i am ready to help in any way.... 3 times i took a tiny gift and walked away with a HUGE blessing.... i had an amazing day and can't wait to see what happens next with this plan of His.....


*as a mom you never know what will really leave an impression. today as i traveled to visit a young mom, i headed to a very unfamiliar neighborhood for me. however, i remembered that one time when my mom took us into a similar neighborhood to help. that was all the encouragement i needed. i knew it was okay and just right. when i mentioned it tonite at dinner to my brother, he knew exactly what i was talking about.... thanks mom *

why did i wait so long?

to have some family pics made? i love them all, and they are so true of our crazy lankford spirit. thanks to a great photographer who was willing to try all sorts of silly ideas! more to come....

a new adventure.....

as this silly little adventure series finally comes to an end, i have to take a minute and acknowledge the end of something else. a very LONG year started in this house last october. it was a year full of interruptions, "or more recently termed, divine-interventions."

it was a year of disappointment, excitement, fear, faith, more excitement, more heartbreak, almost unbearable pain and loss, and confusion. nothing about it seemed to make sense, yet it all had a purpose and plan.

i was really trying to hold on to that last year of ups and downs. but i had to let go, have to live for this year, and these moments. i have learned that all we have is today, and really that is all that matters. no more long term plans, or worries about what anything will look like at any certain time in life. just today and just these memories.

i really want to make good memories from now on. no i don't think it is all going to be super rosy and fine all the time, but i am living expectantly. living with the desire to carry these burdens with contentment and comfort. knowing that He has not missed one minute of any of these events and will be there to walk me through the next.

honestly nothing about the last 3 years of our lives has made a whole lot of sense. but He has us here for a purpose and i will take joy in knowing He is using this time of "divine interventions" to allow us to be a part of His amazing plan. this is all i have and all i know to hold on to.

so with a joyful heart i will look forward to these next 12 months with excitement and anticipation to see what lies ahead.

thank you to any and all of you that have braved this year with us!

i am so blessed by so much!!!!

a halloween adventure.....

i'll be honest, halloween is not my favorite holiday. i have several friends that love it, and i am happy for them, but not me. i am a scaredy cat, and most things about halloween scare me. oh well, i would never tell my boys that so off we went being these tough football players. they had a blast, celebrating at school, at the pumpkin fest, at the Kuhn party, at church and trick or treating with the cousins. it was great.
grandmo joined us for a little bit at church for the fall festival. i really appreciated that since nate was busy working at the bonfire. the fall fest is great, but those game rooms are pretty insane. i needed two sets of hands and eyes!

trick or treating this year was again different with out the crazy other lankford crew. but this rowdy bunch below managed to keep things interesting.

this one is for Non and all our buddies in africa. we missed you guys! sending halloween love from some of your tennessee cousins!

a birthday camping adventure.....

it was a good 2 days.... we camped for the first time as a fam. that was very fun and very cold. then we celebrated a sweet life that deserves to be celebrated. it was emotional, yet so sweet.
not sure what to say about this adventure, so just enjoy the pics.......

it really was a birthday party
2 crazy cooks, it is amazing the group of friends that surround sonya and dra. so blessed to be a part of that group....

dad couldn't let us go to the state park for our camp out without official bikes.

colby on his motorcycle....

cy so proud he was about to bust. super cool helmet and all!!

and yes we slept in a tent on the gravel. never got the pic, but it was classic!

a heartbreaking adventure......

yes they left and it was a stinky adventure to go on for us. but i know that it was a grand adventure for them to begin. i am so excited for them and know that God has HUGE plans. but i really miss them tons, and can't believe that it was only 2 weeks ago that they left. i would swear it was 2 years ago. it is going to be a long holiday season without them, but thank goodness for big families! we still have jadie bug and sweet liv. we will hold them tight while our dear briley, braxton, barron and bristol are over in "aprica." it was a great night at non and pop's before they left, full of love and full of tears.

sweet colby and livi being such big helpers.....

good buddy brax taking it all in that night, that boy has a special place in many of our hearts

my sweet friend and sis. sad to not have court, but lovin that the Lord blessed me with sweet Dana also.....

she finally gave it up in my arms that night. can't really look at this pick without a tear forming in the ol eye.

we talk about joe, aunt tort, bri, brax, bear bear, and bris daily. can't wait to figure out skype< b/c my crew over the phone is slightly chaotic!

bedtime adventures......

upon the departure of our sweet cousins, we acquired a very fun thing. new bunkbeds!! the hardest part is that all of us are reminded of the boys that used to sleep in these beds every nite. man we miss them dearly!!! but my boys LOVE these beds and have not missed a beat being in the room together. they tell each other all the time how much they like "tamping out" together each night. thanks sweet barron and braxton for the cool beds and the shiny stars that colby sees each nite!!

a Florida adventure.....

over fall break we headed south. we have gone for the last couple of years with the Kuhn family and Joey and Court to the beach for fall break. this year we were absent several fun loving cousins, but took some special peeps instead. my parents and uncle tuck joined us for the first part of our trip and we had a blast. they had never been to the "florida" house and we were ready to hang with them there. the super fun Kuhns joined us after a couple of days and everyone had a great time enjoying the amazing weather.

this trip was full of several new adventures for us all.....

our first adventure involved geocaching. this super fun scavenger hunt game is very addictive and so much fun! here i am with my first find!!

this was also the first time the boys wore matching suits. i thought they were too cute! oh and the best part was that i had purchased them for $1.97 each! yes!!

another first for the not too adventurous me, yolo boarding. notice how smooth the water was, and i was still pretty sore from having my muscles so tight the entire time. hey but i did it, so me!!

our super fun peeps! the boys loved having so many people to help entertain them!

oh and the high-light of all adventures. nate and karl catching the 400 lb female bull shark. if you happen to have not seen it, just email nate and he will get it right to you!

my kids had a blast with the kuhn gang, and i think even sarah survived with out briley. we did miss having those sweet faces with us though.....

new computer...

yes, i finally have a new computer and can't wait to resume blogging! lots of more october adventures to post! yeah!!!